Ken Lawson

Name: Ken Lawson/Burton Harris

Gender: Male

Age: 19/21

Grade: 12/Graduated

School: Southridge High School/Hobbsborough High School

Hobbies and Interests: School Drama Club, Writing, School Newspaper, Anti-SOTF Activism

Appearance: Ken is the kind of guy who just sort of blends into the background. While being relatively known as an easygoing guy, most people think of him as a bit of a hippy. With his long, free-flowing black hair that goes down past his shoulders, and the full-out hippy beard that he wears on his face, Ken looks like he belongs in the 1970's, as opposed to 2007. Usually, Ken wears faded blue jeans with a rip in the left knee, and running shoes. He stands at a height of 6'1, and is a lean 150 lbs. When reading, he wears a pair of reading glasses that people say make him look 'scholarly'. The majority of his attire consists of faded rock and metal t-shirts, or zip-open hooded sweatshirts. The final thing to note of Ken is that he has an easygoing pair of blue eyes, and a nonchalant look of utter peacefulness on his face. As stated before, Ken looks every bit the part of the hippy. His eyes can at times appear to be glassy, something that a lot of people don't put too much stock into. Ken doesn't smile a lot, and alternates between looking mellow and purposeful.

Biography: Ken Lawson is, to be frank, not who he says he is. While his identification all reads 'Ken Lawson' and everything about him checks out, Ken is not, in fact, the real Ken Lawson. He is an imposter.

Approximately one year ago, Ken Lawson attended another high school in another part of the United States. Ken attended Hobbsborough High School in New Jersey, and was known by the name of Burton Harris. Burton was a lot like he was now, and in fact was the teaching assistant of a class of students that were taught by a nice lady named Mrs. Sarannah. What is noteworthy about this is that this class was involved in the second tragedy that was known as Survival of the Fittest: Version 2. While all of the official records show that Burton Harris perished within SOTF V2, this is in fact incorrect information, and attributes itself much in part to luck, on Burton's behalf.

While the rest of the class was scheduled to go on an end of year school trip, Burton REALLY didn't want to go. As a teacher's assistant, he would have to be responsible for the other kids, and would be forced to break his routine of having no routine. This was something that he wasn't prepared to do, mainly because of the fact that Burton was something of a free-spirit, coming and going when he pleased. Thinking ahead, Burton contacted a friend of his; Ken Lawson, and asked if he wouldn't mind going on the trip in his place. Ken had no qualms about doing it, as his parents wouldn't even notice that he was gone. Ken's mother was a hardcore alcoholic, and his father was in prison, so time away would do him some good, he figured. Burton and Ken switched identification, and Ken went on the ill-fated trip with his classmates, while Burton stayed behind, free of the responsibility to his peers.

When the class was kidnapped and forced to participate in the second coming of Survival of the Fittest, Burton felt outrage for perhaps the first time in his entire life. While not being the sort of person who was bothered by much, it was sobering to him how close he'd come to being captured in the sick game, and he began to feel immense guilt at the fact that he'd condemned one of his only friends to die - solely because he hadn't felt like being responsible.

Following V2, Burton was struck with a large problem. Burton Harris was officially, dead. His parents, both medical doctors, were away on an errand of mercy to a small country in a remote portion of Africa, and circumstances dictated that they wouldn't be back for the better portion of a year, hence they wouldn't find out about SOTF until they returned back to the United States. Thinking quickly, Burton wrote them a letter explaining that he'd won a scholarship to a school in Califonia, and would be moving there in the summer. It'd be a mess when they returned home, but Burton reasoned that if Mr. Danya realized he'd missed someone, there might be the very real possibility of reprisal against him. Hence, Burton opted to live his life as Ken Lawson, at least for the time being, or until Danya was neutralized.

Moving to California was something that Burton had always wanted to do. The warm air, laid-back surfer culture and fun-loving subculture of the city appealed to his inner self, and when Ken Lawson arrived and applied at the Southridge High School as a transfer student from New Jersey, everything checked out. Burton figured that he'd be safe, for the time being. He'd have to repeat grade twelve over again, as Ken had been a few years younger than Burton, but that just made it that much easier to fit in.

While he looks to be an easygoing sort, Burton is actually a certified genius. Scoring off-the-charts on the mandatory IQ tests in grades 3 and 6, Burton's parents pushed him (perhaps a little too hard) into pursuing a career in science, more specifically, exploratory medicine. Partly because of this, and partly because of a lack of interest in school itself, Burton's marks slid quite a bit, and throughout school, he's been maintaining a solid B average. He puts in just enough work to get by, and as mentioned, that is because of the fact that he truly gets bored with school.

The one thing that Burton does have passion in is writing. He's an absolutely brilliant writer, and his preferred genre is that of the stage-play. He's written several of the school plays in the past few years, and has been working on a compliation that he plans to release to an editor and try to get published after he graduates from high school. Because of his passion for writing, he is also a part of the school newspaper, and he now writes editorials criticizing the United States government and their response to organized acts of terrorism, such as Survival of the Fittest. He's gained a bit of a following amongst students who are afraid of SOTF, and he's glad that his message seems to be getting out.

Burton doesn't have any crazy idiosyncratic tendancies, he's not a maniac, he's not a sociopath, in fact, he's just a really laid-back slacker, who if he applied himself, would do well. His upbringing wasn't bad, and he's really just the everyday kind of guy that most people know at least one of in school. Burton is fascinated by the competition known as Survival of the Fittest. Ever since Mr. Danya hijacked the television screens, Burton has been intrigued at the motivations behind the group of terrorists, and the general group dynamics that occurred in the competition itself. He keeps rather up-to-date on the program, and has written at least two essays about it. He wrote a play at Hobbsborough which was a condensed version of the actual Survival of the Fittest competition, and while being rather controversial, he believed that it raised questions, more about the way that the entire thing had been handled by both the students and the US Government. Currently Burton is still involved in drama, and because of his own experiences with the SOTF program, he's become even more intrigued, and in fact a little angry by the whole thing.

While not the most social person in the entire world, Burton is kind of laid-back, and very quiet in most contexts. He does prove to be a really smart guy when people address him directly, and often makes good points. He plays bit-parts in the school plays, and doesn't enjoy having the attention or the spotlight on himself. He prefers to stay in the background, but just enjoys being part of the overall performance.

A great majority of the time, Burton is high. While not having a dependancy on marijuana, he enjoys the relaxed feeling that the drug gives him. Like at Hobbsborough, most of the teachers in the school know that he smokes it, and know that he comes to class high, but because of the fact that whenever he actually decides to hand in work, or when the teachers decide to 'teach him a lesson' by springing a surprise test, quiz, or assignment on him, he always aces them, they tend to overlook it. Many a time, Ken will wink at them and cryptically say "you guys'll never learn!" He's smoked so much of it that while it seems like he's permafried, he's mostly always relaxed and it doesn't affect his overall performance. He never carries it on his person in the school though, so when he goes off to actually indulge in it is somewhat of a school mystery.

Burton never loses his cool, and even the most traumatic events don't seem to have much of an affect on him. The one exception to this is his involvement with Survival of the Fittest. While not completely changed by it, Burton feels guilty whenever SOTF is brought up, due to his friend dying in it while taking his place. His motto in life is 'no problem', and he lives by it as his mantra. Burton will, if someone is in dire need of comfort, open himself up to try and make people feel better, but only if they really need it or if they are in a really bad place. Other than that, he's a very closed book, for the most part.

Burton has become aware of the fact that Adam Dodd, the winner of SOTF v1, is attending his school, and has spoken with him upon a few occasions, never disclosing who he truly is. He has been thinking about doing so, if nothing else so that the two of them might be able to band together in a larger brand of activism against the United States and their absolute inability to do anything about Danya.

Advantages: Burton has above-average intelligence, and is capable of being a very disarming person one moment, and catching you off-guard the next. He reads people well and doesn't trust easily. He's level-headed and doesn't find himself getting angry too easily.

Disadvantages: Burton doesn't do mornings very well at all, and is often very disoriented. He has an almost addict-like depenance on marijuana for his sense of calm. He feels guilty when people talk about SOTF v2, and this is a point of turmoil for an otherwise level-headed individual. He has very little stamina, thanks to his smoking.

Designated Number: Male Student no. 11

'The above biography is as written by d0ddi0slave. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

==

Designated Weapon: Kevlar

Conclusions: Anti-SOTF activism, eh, B11? I wonder how quick he'll put those thoughts to the side when it's his own tail on the line? Even if he keeps his attitude against SOTF and killing others to survive, you can be assured that others won't, and that kevlar will only protect him if they're aiming for his chest and not his head.

Game Evaluations
Kills: None

Killed by: Buried alive

Collected Weapons: Kevlar (issued weapon)

Allies: Darnell Butler, Kallie Majors, Matthew Wittany

Enemies: None

Mid-Game Evaluation: Ken's game began at the small cottage, where he ran into Darnell Butler outside the building. Inside, a group was already beginning to build, consisting of Kallie Majors, Matt Wittany, and Guy Rapide. The students began to band together inside the house and began discussing ideas of how to take on the game. Soon enough, another new arrival, Kristin Washington, appeared on the doorstep and was quickly initiated into the group as well. While all this was going on, Ken's dark secret was on his mind. When he voiced his concerns involving honesty to the group inside the cottage, he inadvertantly planted the seeds of distrust in all their minds. Soon enough, the group from the cottage began to collapse. Ken didn't seem too bothered by the whole event, simply gathering up his belongings and moving elsewhere.

Soon enough, he found himself at the island's cemetary. It wasn't too long before he once again ran into Guy Rapide, this time towing around fellow student Alice Jones. He was hit by two more blasts from the past when Kallie Majors and Matt Wittany emerged from the woodwork. Ken attempted to make himself useful to the group, offering his hacking services to them. However, his actions at the cottage earlier in the game made the other students wary of his intentions, and eventually, they abandoned him in the graveyard.

Ken, too, decided to leave the graveyard. Unfortunately for him, fate had decided otherwise. As he walked through the area, he found the ground under him disappearing and fell into an open grave. Ken attempted to scale the muddy walls of the grave and get himself out of the hole, but accidentally pulled on a tree root that caused the dirt around him to cave in. He was buried alive, crushed under the weight of the falling dirt.

Post-Game Evaluation: The game is like death in Final Destination, kiddies. You might be able to skip it once, but you definitely can't escape it. It's such a pity, though. I really thought that the REAL Burton Harris would make more of an impact than he did.

Memorable Quotes: "Evening. I don't believe we've been properly introduced. If you're travelling with Guy Rapide, you're probably growing tired of playing the Jackie Chan to his Chris Tucker. Just think of me as somewhat of a ... a Don Cheadle, so to speak. A wise old fool who happens to be hoping that what I'm thinking and feeling isn't betraying my cool exterior." - You've gotta love these little analogies.

Other/Trivia

 * According to posts in the Start - G07 topic, Ken and Darnell Butler used to frequently have arguments about SOTF, and it took being personally abducted for Darnell to realize Ken was right.
 * During AIM conversations amongst SOTFers, Ken is often referred to as "Kenurton" or "Burken". When he came up for the V3 Readathon, he was also dubbed "Kenburton Larris"
 * Ken was the first (and so far only) character in the SOTF series to be buried alive.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Ken, in chronological order.

The Past:
 * Ken Lawson Checks Out

Pre-Game:
 * A Meeting of the Minds

V3:
 * Start - G07
 * Walk Amongst the Dead
 * Drag You Down

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Ken Lawson. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''